The spirit of the Age

[Munkay]

Once you agree upon which words to read, then you can start to discuss what the words actually do mean.

First off, the issues you brought up about the language are spot on. You can also add into the mix the kind of Greek that the new testament was written in - how were words used in that context? A great Lexicon like the works of Scott and Liddel are absolutely incredible, but the same definition for a word in Homer may not mean the same thing 800 years later. Add on top of that problems with class distinction - since the use of Greek was so widespread, there was a big difference in how well educated citizens of the empire may use it, compared to that of the common folk.

But there's actually a general agreement about what words are supposed to be used. I don't have my Greek New Testament in front of me right now, but I'll have to dig it out. Before I was allowed to translate a word, we spent time talking about the text we used. A global council of classicists came together and worked on coming to a consensus of the wording and structure. On a sliding scale from a to e, each word/sentence/paragraph was declared to be either original, probably original, probably added, or severely in doubt. Now, of course these people may be incorrect, but I do believe its a credible and good starting point.

Felt it was a worthy tangent;)

Cheers,

Munk